Oct 14, 2009

Note: I urge you to click on the images so you can see them full screen. It is very impressive

May of 2009

October 2009

Last May I posted about traveling over Hoover Dam on our way home from Arizona. I also posted several pictures of the area and of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge that is being constructed. I love this trip on so many levels. The scenery is spectacular, the dam construction is poetry on a high wire and the public areas on the dam are just a beautiful piece of American Art Deco craftsmanship. ( I love this style and the book Art Deco Complete: The Definitive Guide to the Decorative Arts of the 1… is one I would love to have.)
Last May the arch that will ultimately support the span over the canyon was not nearly completed. We were thrilled to see it joined together waiting for the road to rest on it's back. You could see the over head pulley system with buckets they are using to carry material and men(?) out onto the arch to work. I wish I had been there the day they put the keystone in place. It must have been something to see. Anyone have pictures?

Oct 7, 2009

We left Portland on Saturday, October 3rd. We arrived in Las Vegas on October 5. The stops on the way were both good experiences. The snow...well that was another thing. As we passed through Idaho on I-84 and then south into Utah it was just beginning to snow in earnest. We noticed in the news the next day it had snowed 2 feet. The unexpected seems to be the rule when we travel. If you are just beginning to travel or have done very little, I am suggesting that you do a humor check...the attitude has to be right or you will NOT have fun!

On the second night we stopped in one of our World Mark condo units located east of Ogden at Wolf Creek World Mark. (The resort is located 13 or so miles east of Ogden on Highway 39.) Even though it did snow as we were leaving, I did get some beautiful pictures of the area. All I could think was "Mother Nature must be a little surprised by this too." Snow fell on trees still covered with beautiful red and gold leaves.

We stopped at a restaurant set in Ogden Canyon for breakfast called The Oaks. Locals come here for the coffee klatch each morning. The restaurant has big decks outdoors and the view are spectacular. The food was just fine...not great but sometimes we take the trade offs and are glad for the view or location.I am from the generation that remembers two lane roads, falling rocks and curves that demanded a honk before you went around them. We traveled on beautiful 4 lane roads from Portland all the way to Las Vegas. Save a few pot holes here and there the roads we well maintained. Unlike the trip through California where concrete is crumbling and any road that is not a major federal highway can be in very poor condition we found the highways in Idaho and Utah to be almost flawless. We traveled south to Las Vegas on October 5th and arrived here at our World Mark facility at rush hour. We had a late start that morning...pictures you know. It was not a hard day for us at all. I called as we were traveling toward Las Vegas outside of Mesquite to see if we could get bonus time. We booked into a room at the World Mark on Las Vegas Avenue and paid $52 for a one bedroom condo. We used our points for three nights at the resort. The rooms are beautiful.

We will leave here on Friday and travel via Boulder Dam to Phoenix then to Tucson. I will post pictures for your information. Hopefully no more snow. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Oct 4, 2009

Isn't traveling fun...the truck stop food, the $3.28 per gallon gas with an out-of-order restroom...the snow on October 3? It is just a barrel of monkey flying down the road...really! Now if you do not have a sense of humor or are not grounded in the fact that life is not a smooth road to the sunshine, then you may not be able to laugh at what a trip will throw at you. I have a friend that says that my husband and I should not be allowed to leave our home. She may be right but we love the adventure. We were on trip near Three Mile Island nuclear facility in Penn. when it malfunctioned, we lived through black outs in Boston, we were in Spain with visas to go to Saudi Arabia when the war broke out in Iraq, we were on Koh Samui, an island in the Gulf of Thailand when the tsunami hit in the Indian Ocean, we have been on the destination part of our trip when the airline we had booked to come home went on strike...and the list goes on. But we have never seen it as a bad thing (well the broken down rest room was not good but still)...in fact we like the hard as well as the easy parts. We boldly call our mishaps bragging rights. I guess you can see what is coming...right?

This trip is no different in any way. We had planned to go to Estes Park in the Colorado Rockies but because the weather forecast called for sleet and cold wind, we decided to change our plans. We go to Arizona to escape just that kind of thing. We changed our booking with our time share and we are going to Las Vegas instead. Never did we dream that it would snow all the way from Boise Idaho well into Utah on I-84 going south toward Salt Lake City. Today is October 4, 2009. The temperature lingered at about 34 degree for most of the day. I can just imagine someone saying, "Here is the deal, you will be getting snowed on in October...no matter which way you go missy. Just tough up!" (that's cowboy talk in case you didn't know, only a cowboy would say just cowgirl up lady.)

We are now at a World Mark resort outside of Ogden, Utah. We traveled about 13 miles east of Ogden up the Ogden Valley. The resort is called World Mark Wolf Creek and is near the little community of Eden. If we were skiers this would be perfect in the winter. Powder Mountain is very close by. The resort ad touts "Over 7,000 acres covering three mountains adds up to the most skiable terrain in the US. With this much space, you won't share any of the 124 runs with a crowd." In the summer fishing would be an option. The large Pineview Reservior is just a short drive away. Utah.com says "Pineview Reservoir provides outstanding opportunities for boating, fishing and other water sports."

Or, if you are a golfer and would like a luxurious lodge to be your home for a few days, Wolf Creek Lodge is just next door to the World Mark Resort. They want you to come and enjoy all the services. "Your lodging reservation includes full access to our many mountain resort amenities that include championship golf, restaurants, lounge and bar, outdoor pools, spa, concierge shuttle service, plus special free and discount perks."Our room is beautiful here at our time share. We pay less that $50 dollars to use 'bonus time' or that time that is not booked. We call about 10 days ahead to find a spot. Our room has a kitchen with everything we need to fix small meals...including a dishwasher. A separate bedroom allows one of us to go to bed early or even sleep in late while the other can rattle around.

So we ate a turkey dinner at a small restaurant called JC's in Tremonton (not really good) as we came down I-84. I will fix toasted cheese sandwiches later on this evening. We have a bottle of wine, a gas fireplace and a queen sized bed. Until tomorrow morning we are in a very wonderful place.

Oct 1, 2009

I only have a few words of advice...when you are shopping for insurance, don't forget the old fashions "Insurance Agent". My husband spent a great deal of time online, searching for the right insurance. In the end he found that, when he began to talk directly with an agent using our existing policy as a comparison, we were able to get car insurance with what we wanted for what we could pay. The company that had accident forgiveness, gave us a better deal because we were educated and did not punish us for being "senior citizens". Liberty Mutual was the company.

So my advice is, "TALK TO YOUR INSURANCE AGENT AND THEN TALK TURKEY!!!"